Firehawk (roller coaster)

Firehawk was a flying roller coaster located at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio. Manufactured by Vekoma, it originally opened as X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure on May 26, 2001, billed as the Midwest's first and only flying roller coaster. Cedar Fair purchased Worlds of Adventure in 2004 and began efforts to downsize the park. X-Flight was relocated to Kings Island following the 2006 season, where it reopened as Firehawk on May 26, 2007.

The roller coaster's layout was identical to the now-defunct Batwing, another Vekoma Flying Dutchman model, located at Six Flags America. Firehawk closed permanently on October 28, 2018, and was later demolished. On August 15, 2019, it was announced that Firehawk would be replaced by a new Bolliger & Mabillard coaster named Orion, a giga coaster that opened in 2020.[1]

History

Six Flags Worlds of Adventure/Geauga Lake (2001–2006)

Ride experience

Track

The steel track was 3340 ft in length, and the height of the lift hill was 115 ft. There were approximately 300 sections of track colored red, with steel gray supports.[16] When the ride operated at Geauga Lake, the track was neon green with dark blue supports.[13]

Firehawk had a total of five inversions – one vertical loop, two inline twists, and four 180-degree inline twists that were each counted as a half inversion.[24] These 180-degree inline twists were also known as "Lie-to-Fly" and "Fly-to-Lie" elements, in which riders on their backs were flipped to face the ground or vice versa.[25][26][27]

Layout

Once riders were seated and restrained, the train was tilted backwards into a 'lay-down' position and dispatched. The train traveled backwards out of the station, turned left and traveled up the 115 ft lift hill at a 33-degree angle. Once the train reached the top of the lift hill, it dipped down into a twist (called a "Lie-to-Fly") that turned the trains upside down into a flying position where riders faced the ground. After the twist, the train traveled down the first drop, reaching speeds of 51 mi/h. Riders then proceeded through an over banked horseshoe curve element, passing the queue area. Following the horseshoe, the train entered a "Fly-to-Lie" element that turned riders back to a lay-down position. After the banked turn, the ride entered the 66 ft tall vertical loop, where riders experience 4.3 Gs. The train then went into another "Lie-to-Fly" element. Following the loop, riders entered another turn and hit two consecutive inline twists. Following the inline twists, the train entered the final helix followed by the final "Fly-to-Lie" element. Afterwards, the train was slowed to a stop on the brake run before returning to the station.[24][28][29]

Station

The coaster featured a dual station which was connected to the main track using a switch track segment (similar to a railroad switch). Dual-station operation allowed for two trains to be loaded simultaneously for more efficient operation. This configuration has existed since the ride debuted at Geauga Lake.[2][29]

Trains

Firehawk operated with two trains. There were six cars with four seats in each row for a total of 24 riders per train.[24] There were three trains during the ride's first year at Geauga Lake, however only two were used since. The third train became a parts donor for the first two.[24][30] Originally, riders reclined on the lift hill, rather than in the station, and returned to an upright position prior to re-entering the station.[6][31] However, this was changed to occur in the station due to problems that arose during the ride's first season.[29] The trains featured the Firehawk logo on the front colored yellow and red. At Geauga Lake, the X-Flight logo was featured on the trains.[2]

imagedimensions	250px
previousnames	X-Flight at Six Flags Worlds of Adventure/Geauga Lake (2001–2006)
location	Kings Island
section	Coney Mall
subsection	X-Base
coordinates	39.34273°N, -84.26273°W
status	Removed
opened	May 26, 2007
year	2007
closed	October 28, 2018
replacement	Orion
type	Steel
type2	Flying
manufacturer	Vekoma
model	Flying Dutchman (1018m)
lift	Chain lift hill
height ft	115
length ft	3340
speed mph	50
inversions	5
duration	2:10
angle	33
capacity	520
gforce	4.3
restriction in	54-80
rcdb number	3793
trains	2
carspertrain	6
rowspercar	1
ridersperrow	4
virtual queue name	Fast Lane Plus
virtual queue image	Cedar Fair Fast Lane Plus availability icon.svg
virtual queue status	was available

Firehawk (roller coaster)

History

Six Flags Worlds of Adventure/Geauga Lake (2001–2006)

Kings Island (2007–2018)

Ride experience

Track

Layout

Station

Trains

Incident

Gallery

Geauga Lake

Kings Island

See also

External links

References